In 1930, the first nonstop airplane flight from Europe to the U.S. was completed in 37 hours as Capt. Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte of France arrived in Valley Stream, New York, aboard their Breguet 19 biplane, which bore the symbol of a large question mark.

In 1935, a Labor Day hurricane slammed into the Florida Keys, claiming more than 400 lives.

In 1944, during World War II, Navy pilot Lt. (jg) George Herbert Walker Bush was shot down by Japanese forces as he completed a bombing run over the Bonin Islands. (Bush was rescued by the crew of the submarine USS Finback; his two crew members, however, died.)

In 1960, Wilma Rudolph of the United States won the first of her three gold medals at the Rome Summer Olympics as she finished the 100-meter dash in 11 seconds.

In 1963, Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace prevented the integration of Tuskegee High School by encircling the building with state troopers. "The CBS Evening News" with Walter Cronkite was lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes, becoming network television's first half-hour nightly newscast.

In 1969, in what some regard as the birth of the Internet, two connected computers at the University of California, Los Angeles, passed test data through a 15-foot cable. The first automatic teller machine (ATM) to utilize magnetic-striped cards was opened to the public at Chemical Bank in New York. (Called a "Docuteller," it was developed by Donald C. Wetzel.)

In 1996, Muslim rebels and the Philippine government signed a pact formally ending a 26-year insurgency that killed more than 120-thousand people.

In 1998, a Swissair MD-11 jetliner crashed off Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people aboard.

In 2004, President George W. Bush pledged "a safer world and a more hopeful America" as he accepted his party's nomination for a second term at the Republican National Convention in New York.

In 2005, A National Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine rolled into New Orleans four days after Hurricane Katrina. Scorched by criticism about sluggish federal help, President George W. Bush toured the Gulf Coast and met with state and local officials, including New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin; at one point, Bush praised FEMA Director Michael Brown, telling him, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

Ten years ago: Republicans assailed Barack Obama as the most liberal, least experienced White House nominee in history at their convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, and enthusiastically extolled their own man, John McCain, as ready to lead the nation. President George W. Bush briefly addressed the convention by satellite from the White House. A gunman in Skagit County, Washington, killed six people and injured four others; a suspect, Isaac Zamora, later pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two murders and guilty to the remaining four, and is being held in a mental hospital. Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier was left paralyzed in a shooting outside an apartment building in Jacksonville, Florida; a suspect, Tyrone Hartsfield, was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Five years ago: France released an intelligence report alleging chemical weapons use by Syria that dovetailed with similar U.S. claims, as President Bashar Assad warned that any military strike against his country would spark an uncontrollable regional war. On her fifth try, U.S. endurance swimmer Diana Nyad became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the help of a shark cage.

One year ago: President Donald Trump visited with survivors of Hurricane Harvey, touring a Houston shelter housing hundreds of displaced people and meeting with emergency responders in Lake Charles, Louisiana; it was Trump's second visit to the region in the wake of the storm. Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to Earth after 288 days on the International Space Station; the trip gave Whitson a total of 665 days in space, a record for any American and any woman worldwide.

Thought for Today: "If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that." — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (GU'-tuh), German poet, dramatist and author (1749-1832).

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.